So he really was able to help you in regrowing your arm back and it took less than an incense stick of time .
I heard Lu Jian's voice the second I came back to my senses, he was most likely talking to Chu Jian, his voice carried an obvious hint of how shocked he currently was at this, without missing a beat, I heard Chu Jian's reply, he said :
He did, I'm not sure about the whole process, I blacked out almost instantly after that swirling energy was infused into my body, the pain was quite unbearable and I almost thought that the operation failed and I was dying from the pain, but fortunately that wasn't the case, here, look .
I squinted my eyes a few times as they were talking, my vision was still blurry, I had used my Soul Power to help with healing him, then I was attacked by him and weirdly enough, even though I did manage to evade and parry most of his attacks, that light blade of his seemed to be actually able to injure me still, even though my body didn't seem to have even a faint mark on it .
I inspected my body thoroughly and couldn't help but gasp at this discovery, it gave me too much of a startle that I suddenly found myself regaining all my senses back, looking outside the tent, I was able to see the shadows of the two people who were currently indulging in a conversation with one another .
I saw Lu Chiang mouth opened wide and saw Chu Jian holding his two swords and dancing with the wind, I was able to tell that he was demonstrating how much healed he was, I couldn't help but wonder about the shocked face of Lu Jian, but it was merely for a second .
After that, I just accepted that his shock must be because he didn't know that many people who can do such things, so I left it at that and brought my sore body up and was about to get out of the tent when I heard Lu Jian say :
I have admired Branch Master Chen Fan for all my life, but to think that he even imparted such a unique method to a recently accepted disciple, I really have no words to describe how generous he is .
Hearing Lu Jian's words of praise about my Master, my mind was suddenly reminded of the sadness and melancholy I had on my heart due to Master passing away, I also couldn't help but nod inwardly regrading the words of praise I just heard .
Master was indeed a generous person, even at the death doorstep, he thought of shielding me from the poison that was already threatening to take his life any moment, he didn't demand anything to teach me Martial Arts and he was even willing to accept my path and choice without much of an issue, I had a wonderful compassionate and generous Master .
Even though our Master-disciple relationship didn't last for more than a full month, I still had gotten to like this Master of mine, but now all I can give him was words of praise and pray that he will find rest in his afterlife, that's all I can do to cherish the memory I have of him .
The other thing that I feel very much obligated to do is to seek justice for his death from those who had troubled him, that City Lord will soon realize the grave mistake that he made by poisoning my Master, now I'm not sure to face him head on, but with the help of my loot this time and the Panel, I'm certain that it won't take much time before I can have my vengeance, this was very much my conviction .
While I'm doing this, I will be forced to improve myself and breaking every limit sat by this world by my strength, this should be in line with Master's wishes of me as well, I really can't keep a straight face while thinking about him dying just like that, I felt this same sadness before once, it was when my parents passed away .
That was how much tight the bond I started to forge with my Master was, it seem that the quote about A Master for a day being like a father for the rest of life indeed is true, my melancholic state was cut off by recalling Guardian Li reaction to master passing away, I just can't help but think it was quite abnormal, could my hunch be correct and he was vying for this kind of opportunity .
Master had said that they were three brothers by oath, but how many people actually honor their oathes, he really might have been plotting for Master's demise since some time, no much would I be able to gain from trying to guess what his actual intentions were, I should return to the dojo and see what he intended to do first and keep a close eye on him for the time being .
Lu San should have been informed about what had happened, if not, then this will confirm that my suspicions weren't groundless, but what if the two were carved of the same mold, then what could I possibly be able to do .
I can't wait for they take over the Dojo, I need to have a plan in mind for when the worst case scenario actually do happen, leaving my fate in the hands of circumstances was something that I was quite reluctant to do, so I need to plan for some countermeasures, just in case everything went south .
As I finished making up my mind, I heard the two were still praising my Master, from the looks of things, the two had even more info about how amazing Master was than I do, they spoke volumes about how powerful and talented he was as a youngster, I was able to scope out some personal information about Master, like him being a commoner .
A commoner reaching the position my master had reached as per what Chu Jian said was truly impressive, my respect for Master increased even more, I was starting to feel more and more pride in being his disciple, recalling that Master also seem to have a deep connection with quite the number of high officials in the government made me a bit more at ease in finding help whenever there was a need to ask for it .
I stood there behind the tent entrance and was unable to step out of the tent just yet, I was still calming my heart down, my emotions were also in a mess, these people outside were unaware of them being the reason to why I was in such a messy situation, they still have no clue about Master passing away, I still preferred to keep things that way .
It wasn't because I didn't trust them completely to keep the news for themselves, but it was just that too many things were at stake currently, anything I do might end up coming to bite me and the people who still dear to me at any second in the future, trust was one of the reasons among other grave ones too .
That what made me stop by the tent entrance all that time and still not joining them outside, I need to have my emotions under control and keep a straight face no matter what happened after I step out of this tent, how helpful would it be, if I just were to use that strange healing method on myself .
I had previously tried, but unless I grow another set of arms, it will be very much impossible to use that method on myself, using that method mean that the second I try to use it on myself, the method would stop working, the reason have to do with either my hand being busy or the method wasn't designed to be used by the person who started it .
Either way, the only solution I currently have was to fix myself up and calm my filled with turmoil heart and mind, taking a deep breath, I exhaled it right afterwards, repeating this for a few more times, I seemed to have finally calmed down, then I pushed the curtains acting like a tent door away and finally joined the two of them, just as Lu Jian was saying :
To think that people still trying to say that everything is over for Master Chen Fan, I wonder what will these muddlehead people do when they know that Master Chen Fan had actually such a method hidden in his sleeves, oh brother Tian, you had finally woke up .
Just as Lu Jian seem to have finished saying all that he have to say, I finally made an appearance and the two of them found me coming out of the tent, with disheveled hair and completely worn out clothes, hearing what Lu Jian said, I got an idea that should keep the condition of things hidden for the time being, I will just need Chu Jian and Lu Jian help with that .
I nodded at the two of them, my eyes twitched slightly and I almost broke character, the two of them seem to have noticed the slight shift in my reaction, but both of them had thought that it was related to me still suffering from what happened before .
Both guys asked about how I was holding up, seeing that I had barely escaped being found out this quick, I steadied myself and cleared the non-existent sweat that seem to have formed on my forehead, then acted as if I was dusting my body off, after that I gave the two of them a faint smile and said :
" Never better, how are things on your side ? .
Instantly I saw that Chu Jian bowed his body again and almost start kowtowing in front of me while apologizing for what he did before, him fighting me while he was unconscious and so on, I helped him up and seeing the look in the bystanders eyes, I was able to understand that they were the ones who briefed him on what had happened .
After telling him that everything was okay, he finally seemed to let out a relieved breath,then with a bitter smile, I saw Chu Jian ask suddenly :
Since you were able to do it, regrowing my arm again, why was that talk necessary, I have quite a vague memory regarding what happened at that time .
I looked at him and recalled what talk was he talking about, I couldn't help but grin and pointed at his head, he looked even more bewildered, so I decided to drop the games and clear his remaining doubts by saying :
" Successfully regrowing your arm back wasn't certain at any point of the whole process, I needed to confirm first that the wound you have on your soul and mind heal first before I heal your physical injury, else I would be giving you a false hope only to crush your dreams completely after that .
As I said this, I saw that his eyes were suddenly flashing with the brilliance of realization and continued to say :
" And looking at you now, I can tell that you have gained more than you have bargained for, am I right ? .
He gave a respectful nod and a smile found its place on his face before he again gave me a bow of gratitude and say :
I had indeed, not only had I grasped my Sword Intent, I also started the path of consolidating the foundation of my dual sword path, not to mention the increase in Martial Realm and the Mastery of the sword, Thanks you for enlightening me, older brother .
I was able to hear the hesitation and embarrassment in his voice, it seem that that took quite the toll on him to barely say the last two words, it was also an indication of his accepting the results of our little duel, the person who was most baffled at this kind of development was the youngest brother Lu Jian, who had no intention to accept the current hierarchy, but he was now unable to do anything to stop it .
He laughed bitterly and said with a wide grin on his face :
It's one thing for older brother Chu to abdicate the older brother title to brother Tian, but now I have to go through brother Chu, if I were to ever try challenge brother Tian for the older brother title, what a headache, congratulations to both of you .
He said this with an annoyed tone of voice, but seeing the wide grin on his face was enough to prove that he had accepted this kind of development without much of a problem, we both nodded at him and we sat down for a good breakfast, it was already noon, I couldn't help but sigh and feel relieved that luckily I hadn't spent much time unconscious .
Lu Jian told us about the reason why he had left so early in the morning, he said that an envoy from the capital city had come here to Howling Wolf City with quite the important piece of news, the competition that had already been decided to be held at the end of the year was actually brought forward, it will now be held on the Starry Qilin night, 3 months from now .
The news had shocked the whole city, due to the fact that many people had yet to prepare themselves for the competition, people tried to revolt against the envoy and the imperial decree, but they were all forced to submit by the City Guards and our Lu Family's manor was actually chosen to held some of the fights of the preliminary stages, but that's not all, due to the competition requirements, the city wil now be opened to everyone who want to enter as long as they paid the fee, day and night .
That second part was what mattered currently the most, the reason is simple, the issue with the people of the Green Sword Villa staying in the city was exactly because they weren't allowed to leave and once they even try, the City Lord's personal guards would notify him immediately, the second problem lay in the fact that the city walls were now closed by the orders of the City Lord .
So unless someone with considerable strength and authority were to come and intervene, the situation would continue to stay in a deadlock, but that's exactly why opening the City Walls now might be the solution, the people from the Green Sword Villa was said to be heading here, but with the city closing its doors to them it should have created tons of trouble which would now be solved quite easily now .
The siblings together with the people they brought, now had a certain chance to escape that city lord's pursuit and return home, I had mixed feeling regarding this, but I was still happy that they might get a chance to go back safely, after hearing what information Lu Jian had, I looked at Chu Jian and the latter met my gaze and nodded his head .
The City Guards were the one who notified Lu Jian about the Lu Family Manor hosting some of the competition rounds, the same went for every family in the city as well, there are 5 to 8 at least big families like the Lu Family, to think that this number of families all will need to prepare for the competition, I couldn't help but wonder how grand was this competition they spoke of actually was .
But no matter, my curiosity can wait for another time, currently I was about to ask Lu Jian to tell me about the circumstances within his family, it had been almost half a a day since witnessing that discussion they had earlier, nothing much should have changed, but just in case, I was about to ask him anyway .
~shriek~
Just as I was about to do that, suddenly a aloudscreeching sounddescend on us here, then a shadow flow by us, then without wasting a second and without even the slightest vibration in air, the shadow burst forward towards us and it landed gracefully on the shoulder of Lu Jian .
It was a bird that looked like an eagle, but not quite, he was smaller and looked more like a crow or a pigeon than an actual eagle, the reason I linked it with the eagle was because the graceful landing and his talons and features that were similar to eagles I saw back in my previous world, the bird name was Black Wing .
At least that was what Lu Jian called it as it landed on his shoulder, we were both startled at his sudden appearance, Chu Jian was even alarmed due to how critical his situation was and how fast was the bird moving, Black Wing could take any of us by surprise and injure or even kill us if he wanted to, just by depending on his movements speed .
That thing like a silent assassin started to act coyly with Lu Jian, the latter replied with affection and that made both of us who were startled to finally settle down, noticing something around the leg of the 2 legged bird, I pointed that out to Lu Jian who was still caressing the bird's feathers .
Lu Jian finally realized what was going on and he directly unstrapped the thing tied to the bird leg and it was a finger size capsule almost unnoticeable unless one were to gaze closely at the bird and from the right angle too, after Lu Jian unlocked the capsule, there was a small piece of parchment inside, a massage brought by the bird, Lu Jian read through its contents and looked at me looking all seriousness and solemn, then he said :
Brother Tian, Can I Ask You For A Favor ? .